NEIL BLAKE | nblake@mdn.netHamilton pastries co-owner Matthew Hamilton pulls freshly baked bread from the oven. Hamilton started worked at the business for his father, Raymond Hamilton, as a 16-year-old for spending money. "You have to time it right because everything cooks at a different temperature," Matthew said about the oven. "The donuts go in first because they have to be ready first thing (when the store opens)." less

NEIL BLAKE | nblake@mdn.netHamilton pastries co-owner Matthew Hamilton pulls freshly baked bread from the oven. Hamilton started worked at the business for his father, Raymond Hamilton, as a 16-year-old for ... more

Photo: Neil Blake/Midland Daily News

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NEIL BLAKE | nblake@mdn.netHamilton Pastries co-owner Ken Craig scoops out raspberry filling while making coffee cakes at the bakery. Craig said his favorites are the German chocolate coffee cakes sold at the store on Saturdays. Craig started working at the bakery in 1986 and bought the store with Matthew Hamilton in 1996. less

NEIL BLAKE | nblake@mdn.netHamilton Pastries co-owner Ken Craig scoops out raspberry filling while making coffee cakes at the bakery. Craig said his favorites are the German chocolate coffee cakes sold at the ... more

NEIL BLAKE | nblake@mdn.netA clock at Hamilton Pastries was a gift to former owner Raymond Hamilton from his business neighbor, J.P. Losey Jewelers. The clock still keeps accurate time and Raymond's son, Matthew Hamilton, uses it when mixing cakes and other doughs. less

NEIL BLAKE | nblake@mdn.netA clock at Hamilton Pastries was a gift to former owner Raymond Hamilton from his business neighbor, J.P. Losey Jewelers. The clock still keeps accurate time and Raymond's son, ... more

Photo: Neil Blake/Midland Daily News

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Life in the bakery

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(Ray Hamilton always wanted to be in business for himself. In 1968 he purchased the Curtis Bakery on Main Street in Midland and renamed it Hamilton Pastries. He opened a second shop in the Eastlawn Mall in 1980. In 1996 Ray sold the bakery to his son Matt and son-in-law Ken Craig.)

The bakery business for Ray Hamilton was a calling and he constantly was on the lookout for ways to improve his bakery products while making sure that the quality was always of the highest caliber. Splitting the drive to Jackson with Jay Feathers and Victor Lutz to purchase goods from Dawn Foods enabled them to cut out the middleman and pass the savings on to their customers.

There are two parts to every bakery business: the front and the back. The front is where the baked goods are on display behind glass cases and customers are served by the clerks. The back is where the actual baking takes place. Peggy took care of the front and Ray was in charge of the back of the bakery.

Peggy did the bookkeeping, hired the salesgirls and saw that customers were waited on promptly. When Ray and Peggy retired in 1995, Mary, Matt’s wife, took over the bookkeeping duties which had been one of Peggy’s jobs.

Matt Hamilton can trace his ancestry in the bakery business back to Herman Van Drie, his mother Peggy’s grandfather, who emigrated to the United States from the Netherlands in 1906. Henry Van Drie, Matt’s grandfather, was a son of Herman and Cornelia Van Drie, and continued the tradition of being in the bakery business. Matt’s dad, Ray Hamilton, got a part-time job working for Henry Van Drie in Mount Pleasant and decided that he liked the bakery business, too. This makes Matt the fourth generation of his family to be in the business.

Born in Mount Pleasant in 1956, Matt was the second of five children born to Ray and Peggy Hamilton. Matt said, “I was lucky enough to have options, working for my dad, going to college or going to a bakery school. I decided on college and attended Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant. I finished college in 1978 and went to work for my dad because I enjoyed it.”

Matt met his future wife, Mary Palmer, at the First United Methodist Church in Midland and they were married there Jan. 12, 1980. Their first home was an apartment at Heritage Arms in Midland and then they purchased a home on Fernside where they still reside. They have two daughters, Megan and Holly.

Enjoying the work makes up for the odd schedules and the tremendous size of some of the orders that come in. Matt said, “You have different hours meaning you work at night and early morning. You have a different work schedule than other people.” Then he added, “Working in the back means it’s hot in the summertime but you can enjoy the cool wintertime.”

Sometimes orders come in that test one’s ingenuity. Matt said, “In 1976 we made a cake that we took to Midland Senior High School for the July Fourth celebration commemorating America’s 200 years as a nation. The cake was so big we couldn’t get it through the bakery door so we had to tip the plywood the cake was on sideways and then do the frosting when we got the cake outside. It took two station wagons to get the cake to the high school.

In 1987 Hamilton Pastries made thousands and thousands of cup cakes for the 100 anniversary of The Dow Chemical Co. and then delivered them to the Midland Center for The Arts where the celebration took place.

Both Matt and his mom Peggy remarked on the many good family customers that have patronized Hamilton Pastries during the last 45 years. In many cases they have served several generations of the same families.

Matt has followed the dictum his dad made when he went into the bakery business. Matt said, “We make good quality baked goods. Dad always said don’t be cheap with the ingredients just to save a buck.”

Currently Hamilton Pastries has 13 workers who work staggered shifts. The bakers come in at 11 p.m. The girls who fill the doughnuts come in at 4 am. And how do you fill the doughnuts? You poke a hole in the doughnut and fill it using a spigot. Once the filling was done by hand. Matt said, “A bakery is labor-intensive. For example, a large machine mixes the dough but the individual shapes still have to be done by hand.”

Holidays see a spurt in sales. Stollen and Christmas breads are made for the Christmas season. Hot cross buns for Lent. Paczkis for Fat Tuesday. Matt said, “When the farm markets are open we sell a lot of bread there, too.”

Peggy Hamilton has made it a tradition to hand out chocolate covered fried cakes on Halloween. Children of all ages flock to the Hamilton doorstep to add one to their Halloween sack. Peggy said, “Last year we had some kids so big I had to look up at them. They came with a pillowcase, and didn’t even bother with a costume.”

Years ago the white bakery bags from Hamilton Pastries carried the slogan, “Being sweet to you is our business.” It’s a motto that Midlanders have appreciated and trusted for 45 years. Ask anyone who sells the best baked goods in Midland and the answer is always going to be Hamilton Pastries.